by Garrison Wester
Many people probably don’t know about the story of the Endurance, but the ship has finally been found after nearly 107 of being submerged underwater. Mr. Thompson stated, “It was recently found at close to 10,000 feet below the surface! At that depth (and icy, brutal, polar conditions) recovering or salvaging any relics from the ship may be impossible - but it may be possible.” To think that the ship is just being found is crazy to think about because if you compare it to the Titanic that sank on April 14-15 and was found on September 1st, 1985.
On the other hand, the Endurance was found March 9, 2022, the ship was finally found. The ship was much harder to find because it sat so far below surface and because the ocean is covered with a layer of ice. The ship is in much greater shape than anyone would have expected and that leaves a chance for experts being able to retrieve the ship and bring it back above water. If people were able to bring the ship back up that would also bring up great artifacts. The expedition was planned to be rough but what happened was shocking.
The Endurance was a ship that took sail on August 1st, 1914, and it sunk on November 21st in 1915. Sir Ernest Shackleton, a great explorer, was the captain of the ship, and the main goal of the expedition was for them to and try and become the first expedition to cross the length of Antarctica on foot and establish a base on Weddell Sea Coast. Shackleton had tried two times before but both times he failed and wasn’t able to accomplish his goal.
Although Shackleton didn’t achieve his goal on his third expedition, his final trip was way more interesting and filled with more surprises that no one could have anticipated. Everything was going as planned but as they got closer and closer to Antarctica, the water started turning into ice. Eventually the ice got so thick that the ship was not able to move at all. The crew was left stranded on a boat that was many miles away from their homes. This no doubt had to have chaos and worry, but Shackleton stepped up and started to be the leader that he is known for today. This is what Mr. Thompson had to say about his great leadership: “His leadership and the expedition are studied to this day as an example of fortitude, bravery, and crisis management.”
Shackleton remained calm in the heat of the moment, and he came up with a great strategy to leave the stranded boat. His great plan consisted of the crew using their three lifeboats. The three lifeboats fitted all 27 humans and the 69 dogs that were on board. They all fled the ship and set sail on the lifeboats down the streams of water. Many people also don’t know that all of the crew members survived. Sadly, though ten of the dogs died on their long expedition back to land. It took the crew months to get ack to land but they luckily were able to make it back to land safely. The Endurance ended up sinking because the pressure of the ice crushed the ship.
Sir Ernest Shackleton was the hero of this trip as he never cowered down but instead stepped up to the challenge and led the group to safety without any casualties. This was a great story that many people should know about, and I would recommend anyone to become more educated about the great expedition.
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